Honourable Soldier-Bureaucrats: Formations of Violent Identities in the Colonial Police Force of German Southwest Africa, 1905–18

Muschalek, Marie

doi:10.1080/03086534.2013.836363

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Like other men in the colonial realm, policemen in German South West Africa sought above all to be respectable (Muschalek 2013;Schmidt 2014;Smith 2005). To them, this meant first and foremost to be strong, brave and dashing soldiers.…”

Section: Honour Masculinity Sexmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their violent profession was inscribed in reasoned sentiments about ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ violence. Even when disapproved of by higher-ups, their violent practices normally made sense to the lower-downs in terms of masculine honour (Muschalek 2013). Combining the two practices – that is, when sexual practices became violent – I propose that men of the Landespolizei exhibited features of ‘honourable’ masculinity that were highly malleable.…”

Section: Act 1: White Male Honour and ‘Uncomradely Behaviour’mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intimacy, comradeship and everyday police violence: the rape of Sophie M. in German South West Africa in 1910

Muschalek

2024

Africa

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This article asks whether and how gendered violence was part of the quotidian activity of state building in German South West Africa. Investigating the intimate space of a police compound, it gives a micro-historical account of how interracial sexual relations unfolded there, and how policemen’s private, intimate affairs were subject to close scrutiny by the colonial state. Rape – as distinctively masculine violence – posed a notably delicate problem to the legitimacy of the colonial state. The white masculine prerogative needed to be affirmed as the raison d’être of the colonial regime, but disorderly, unprofessional violence had to be controlled for the same reason. The case examined in this article was a rare moment in which an African woman attempted to take part in the discussion over the meaning of sex and violence. Ultimately, her articulation of what intimate, physical interactions meant to her was ignored. Instead, policemen articulated what masculine honour and comradeship meant to them. These discussions over what individual ‘honourable’ (including violent) behaviour implied were also always negotiations over the nature of colonial power and its programme.

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Section: Honour Masculinity Sexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Act 1: White Male Honour and ‘Uncomradely Behaviour’mentioning

confidence: 99%